A blog about our thoughts, actions, and adventures as we seek to become modern homesteaders in Ontario.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Correcting Imperfections on Our Log Cabin

One issue that came up on the sauna, and was eventually corrected, was the nearly inevitable situation of two sections of a wall not being exactly the same height on either side of an opening.

I suppose that if one were to build a solid shell of a log building, and then use a chain saw to cut in the window and door openings, there would be no worries about this sort of thing. But for those of us who are intentionally trying to use up shorter lengths of log, incorporating openings as you build is de rigour.

On the sauna, this was only an issue at the back patio door. The final beam was as much as a few inches above where it was suppose to be as it crossed over the door opening.

Eventually I was able to bring it into place with a combination of a comealong compressing all the beams on the high side of the door, as well as another strap pulling the end of the header beam down on the low side of the door. A number of screws to hold the beam in place, and no one was the wiser. I anticipate that as things settle, the beams will find it more comfortable in their final positions.

Fortunately, the cabin, with more, larger openings, really only suffered from a poor fit in one corner. This was slightly different from the sauna though, as the beams coming from the corner to the door opening actually ended up taking a noticeable slope downwards.

In this picture, you can clearly see the wedge shaped gap that appears in the door frame just under Papa's ever-present grin.

Once again - the sawmill to the rescue!

Donna followed me down the the mill to see how I would deal with this crisitunity.

It was easy enough to first put a sticker (a one inch by one inch stick used to separate stacks of lumber to assist in drying) under one end of a short beam. I then clamped the beam, so it was actually at an angle to the blade of the mill.

Fire up the engine and...

One wedge - just what the doctor ordered!

And, as you can see, fits like a glove. No one is the wiser.

Again, I feel very, very fortunate that I only had to perform an operation like this once, and that it worked out so well and easily. Everything here is new, and I am so happy that we keep managing to find (occasionally elegant) solutions to our problems.